Organized Crime: Power from the Needs of Society

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In any type of society from hunter/gatherer tribes to post industrial nations there are rules and regulations that must be followed for the safety and benefit of said society. Over the centuries these rules have become more rigid and concrete and have transformed into strict laws that all who wish to exist in that society must follow and obey or face severe punishment. The laws are a supposed codification of social norms that all those in the society feel are common practices we must abide by and follow. The laws are created to prevent chaos from erupting amongst the people and to keep order and balance by punishing those who disobey therefore deterring others from also committing such acts. The sole existence of law is for the protection of society and the protection of those in the functioning society. Law however can also lead to the erosion of conventional societal norms and in fact put many individuals in severe danger, specifically laws that are seen as unfavorable amongst the majority of society. Unjust laws and oppressive ruling can have several unexpected consequences on a society such as revolution which much like what the American colonists did in the late 18th century decided to break away from their overbearing monarchy and form a new society with a different set of norms and laws. At the beginning of the 20th century however, a new form of response to unjust laws was born and created mayhem in major cities across the nation, the rise of Organized Crime and the underground market. Society itself has created these forms of crime through the implementation of certain laws and allowed violence and destruction to manifest in opposition to that or a specific group of social rules. Whether it was the rise of gangs in the 1... ... middle of paper ... ...makers and citizens of the society can we control this chaos and remove any chance for these powerful crime syndicates to rise to power ever again. Works Cited • Demleitner Nora V., Organized Crime and Prohibition: What Difference Does Legalization Make?, 15 Whittier L. Rev. 613 (1994) • Felbab-Brown, Vanda. "Organized Criminals Won't Fade Away ." World Today Magazine. 08 2012: n. page. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. • Swift, Art. "For First Time, Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana." Gallup Politics. N.p., 22 10 2013. Web. 19 Feb 2014. • Werb, Dan, Greg Rowell, Gordon Guyatt, Thomas Kerr , Julio Montaner, and Evan Wood . "Effect of drug law enforcement on drug market violence: A systematic review." International Journal of Drug Policy. n. page. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

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